Press Release-I-09-020, NRC to Hold Public Meeting on April 14 in Delta, Pa., to Discuss Annual Assessment of Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-I-09-020: NRC to Hold Public Meeting on April 14 in Delta, Pa., to Discuss Annual Assessment of Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant

ML090970765
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom
Issue date:	04/07/2009
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-09-020
Download: ML090970765 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. I-09-020 April 7, 2009

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON APRIL 14 IN DELTA, PA., TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF PEACH BOTTOM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a public meeting on Tuesday, April 14, regarding the agencys annual assessment of safety performance for the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant.

The meeting will begin at 3 p.m. at the Peach Bottom Inn, at 6805 Delta Road in Delta, Pa. Prior to its conclusion, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants performance, as well as the agencys oversight of the facility.

Peach Bottom, which is the site of two operating boiling-water reactors, is located in Delta (York County). It is owned and operated by Exelon Nuclear.

Overall, Peach Bottom operated safely during 2008. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by the NRC Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the plant that were other than green and no inspection findings that were greater than green.

Therefore, for the rest of 2009, Peach Bottom will continue to receive the very detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that are operating well. In 2008, the NRC devoted approximately 6,720 hours0.00833 days <br />0.2 hours <br />0.00119 weeks <br />2.7396e-4 months <br /> of inspection to the facility, including three major team inspections.

Notwithstanding this performance, there was a white (low to moderate safety significance) security-related finding assigned during 2008 involving inattentive security officers. The agency took significant actions to address the issue, including issuance of a Confirmatory Action Letter and additional oversight. These actions were subsequently closed out following multiple NRC inspections that evaluated the scope, status of completion and effectiveness of Exelons actions in this area at Peach Bottom.

In 2008, all but one of the 26 commercial power reactors in Region I, which covers the Northeastern United States, fully met our clearly defined performance criteria. Peach Bottom was among those plants achieving those objectives. That means those plants will receive the normal level of NRC oversight this year if they continue to meet the high safety benchmarks set

out for each site, said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. That said, our inspectors will remain on the lookout for any problems or adverse trends that might indicate a change in performance. As always, we will not hesitate to act should we identify any safety concerns.

The NRC utilizes a combination of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to measure plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

The agency issues reports on performance at specific plants twice a year: During the mid-cycle, or mid-point, of the year, and at the conclusion of the year. Inspection findings and performance indicators are also updated on the NRCs web site, www.nrc.gov, each quarter. Following the release of the annual reports every March, the NRC meets with the public in the vicinity of each plant to discuss the results. The meetings are in keeping with the agencys commitment to transparency with regard to its activities.

The annual assessment letter for the Peach Bottom plant is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/pb_2008q4.pdf. The notice for the annual assessment meeting is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML090840440. ADAMS is available at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. Help in using ADAMS can be obtained via the NRCs Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV.

Routine inspections are carried out by the two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the agencys Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.

Among the areas at Peach Bottom to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are fire protection, radiological safety, problem identification and resolution, emergency planning and the dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel.

Current performance information for Peach Bottom Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PB2/pb2_chart.html. Current performance information for Peach Bottom Unit 3 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PB3/pb3_chart.html.

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.